American Institute for Conservation of Historic & Artistic Works 42nd Annual Meeting San Francisco, California May 2014 Edited by Rebecca Summerour Cathleen Zaret VOLUME TWENTY-FOUR POSTPRINTS of the Textile Specialty Group, Volume Twenty-Four, 2014, is published by the Textile Specialty Group of the American Institute for Conservation of Historic & Artistic Works. POSTPRINTS is distributed to members of the Textile Specialty Group. Additional copies may be purchased from the American Institute for Conservation of Historic & Artistic Works. Papers presented in this publication have been edited for clarity and content but have not undergone a formal process of peer review. Responsibility for methods and/or materials described herein rests solely with the contributors and should not be considered offi cial statements of the Textile Specialty Group or AIC. Volume 24 © 2014 American Institute for Conservation of Historic & Artistic Works Th e Textile Specialty Group of the American Institute for Conservation of Historic & Artistic Works ISSN 2169-1363 Textile Specialty Group Postprints Volume 24, 2014 ii CONTENTS PREFACE v PAPERS PRESENTED SUSTAINING TACIT AND EMBEDDED KNOWLEDGE IN TEXTILE CONSERVATION AND TEXTILE AND DRESS COLLECTIONS MARY M BROOKS 1–10 BLOWN UP: COLLABORATIVE CONSERVATION AND SUSTAINABLE TREATMENT FOR AN INFLATABLE DRESS CHANDRA OBIE 11–22 A CASE STUDY USING MULTIBAND AND HYPERSPECTRAL IMAGING FOR THE IDENTIFICATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF MATERIALS ON ARCHAEOLOGICAL ANDEAN PAINTED TEXTILES E. KEATS WEBB, REBECCA SUMMEROUR, AND JENNIFER GIACCAI 23–36 FROM NORTH TO SOUTH: THE CONSERVATION OF CIVIL WAR COSTUME FROM THE TENNESSEE STATE MUSEUM HOWARD SUTCLIFFE 37–52 RELYING ON THE KINDNESS OF STRANGERS: GATHERING INFORMATION FOR THE TREATMENT OF A SUIT OF JAPANESE SAMURAI ARMOR ANNE BATTRAM 53–70 WORKING WITH LIMITED RESOURCES: IMPROVING STORAGE CONDITIONS FOR ARCHAEOLOGICAL TEXTILES AT UNIVERSITY OF CONCEPCIÓN FRANCISCA A. LUCERO JUEZ AND FRANCES LENNARD 71–84 ASSESSING LED LIGHTS FOR TEXTILE COLORANTS COURTNEY ANNE BOLIN AND MARY BALLARD 85–96 Textile Specialty Group Postprints Volume 24, 2014 iii CONTENTS PAPERS PRESENTED IN CONSIDERATION OF THE THANGKA DENISE MIGDAIL 97–112 EXTENDED ABSTRACT ANALYSIS OF ORGANIC DYES IN TEXTILES BY DIRECT ANALYSIS IN REAL TIME – TIME-OF-FLIGHT MASS SPECTROMETRY CATHY SELVIUS DEROO AND RUTH ANN ARMITAGE 113–115 PANEL DISCUSSION STRESSED ABOUT PESTS? A PANEL LED DISCUSSION ON INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT RACHEL PERKINS ARENSTEIN, PATRICIA SILENCE, AND BERNICE MORRIS 116–117 POSTER SESSION ADHESIVE SMACKDOWN: CONSOLIDATING A SYNTHETIC LEATHER WRESTLING COSTUME ALISON CASTANEDA 118 EVALUATING AND CHOOSING SHEER OVERLAYS CAMILLE MYERS BREEZE 119–120 NEW APPROACHES IN COMPREHENSIVE MOLD REMEDIATION & RECOVERY ELISE YVONNE ROUSSEAU 121–122 THE HUMMING BIRD 2: USING FOSSHAPE AS AN ALTERNATIVE BACKING FOR FIBER ART SCULPTURE MARISSA STEVENSON, JASON DEPRIEST, AND SUZANNE HARGROVE 123–124 Textile Specialty Group Postprints Volume 24, 2014 iv PREFACE Th e twenty-fourth volume of POSTPRINTS contains papers presented at the Textile Specialty Group (TSG) session of the American Institute for Conservation of Historic & Artistic Works (AIC), in San Francisco, California from May 28–31, 2014. TSG POSTPRINTS is a non-juried publication. Submission of these papers to juried publications, such as the Journal of the American Institute for Conservation, is encouraged. Th e papers chosen from abstracts submitted to the Meeting Chair, Lauren Chang, Textile Specialty Group Vice Chair for 2013–2014, are published as submitted by the authors. Editing of papers was done according to the Journal of the American Institute for Conservation’s “Guidelines for Authors” and the “Best Practices for Online PDF Publication: AIC Specialty Group Annuals & Postprints”, 2014 version. Materials and methods presented within the papers should not be considered offi cial statements of either the Textile Specialty Group, or of the American Institute for Conservation of Historic & Artistic Works. Th e editors wish to thank the contributors to this publication for their cooperation and timeliness. Without their enthusiasm and hard work this publication would not have been possible. Th anks are also extended to Translation Cloud for translating the abstracts into Spanish, and Aptara Inc. for copyediting and layout. Textile Specialty Group Postprints Volume 24, 2014 v Textile Specialty Group Postprints Volume 24, 2014 vi SUSTAINING TACIT AND EMBEDDED KNOWLEDGE IN TEXTILE CONSERVATION AND TEXTILE AND DRESS COLLECTIONS MARY M. BROOKS ABSTRACT—Th is article explores the current paradoxical position of textile and dress collections and textile conservation in museums from an English perspective. Textile and dress exhibitions have become increasingly high profi le, and conservators are being energized by an expanded vision for communicating the activity of heritage conservation, engaging with the public in diff erent and exciting ways and making this oft en hidden process accessible. Nevertheless, despite many exciting initiatives, the underlying trend in the United Kingdom indicates a creeping loss of specialist textile curatorial and conservation posts. Th e article explores the impli- cations of these losses on tacit and embedded knowledge and expertise and the growing threat to the long- term sustainability of textile and dress collections, particularly in the regions. It studies the reasons for these problems and considers in more detail a key issue, that of the loss of teaching needlework skills. Th e article argues that these issues need to be considered when planning strategies to ensure the sustainable future of textile and dress collections and related curatorial and conservation skills. It includes a case study exploring approaches to embedding sustainable expertise implemented during a Monument Fellowship at York Castle Museum, England. SOSTENIENDO LOS CONOCIMIENTOS TÁCITOS E INCORPORADOS EN LA CONSERVACIÓN TEXTIL Y EN LAS COLECCIONES DE TELAS Y TRAJES: RESUMEN—Este documento explora la paradójica posición actual de las colecciones de telas y trajes y la conservación textil de los museos desde la perspectiva inglesa. Las exhibiciones de telas y trajes tienen un perfi l cada vez más alto y entre los conserva- dores crece el entusiasmo por expandir la idea de comunicar las actividades que se realizan para conservar la herencia, llegando al público de maneras diferentes y atractivas y facilitándole el acceso a este proceso tradi- cionalmente oculto. A pesar de las numerosas iniciativas, la tendencia imperante en el Reino Unido muestra una creciente escasez de publicaciones de curadores y conservadores especializados en telas. El documento explora las implicancias de estas pérdidas sobre la experiencia y los conocimientos tácitos e incorporados, y la creciente amenaza para la sustentabilidad a largo plazo de las colecciones de telas y trajes, especialmente en las regiones. Se analizan las causas de estos problemas y se considera más en detalle un problema clave: la pérdida de enseñanza del arte de la costurería. El documento sostiene que estos temas deben ser tenidos en cuenta a la hora de planifi car estrategias que garanticen el futuro sustentable de las colecciones de telas y trajes y del arte de la conservación y el curado de las telas. El escrito incluye el estudio de un caso que explora métodos para la incorporación de experiencia sustentable implementados durante una beca de estudios de monumentos en el Museo del Castillo de York, Inglaterra. 1. INTRODUCTION Th is article explores some of the complex issues challenging the conservation profession in general and textile conservators in particular in terms of the sustainability of our expertise. It is, hopefully, a realistic but not too pessimistic contribution to the discussion and necessarily refl ects an English perspective. It therefore focuses on the various threats to the long-term sustainability of textile and dress collections in the United Kingdom and the actual or future risks of losing both tacit and embedded knowledge for specialist curating and conserving SUSTAINING TACIT AND EMBEDDED KNOWLEDGE IN TEXTILE CONSERVATION AND TEXTILE AND DRESS COLLECTIONS of textiles and dress. Tacit knowledge is generally considered to be the formal and informal knowledge embodied by individuals working for organized networks or institutions; that is, their specialist knowledge, understanding and skills whereas embedded knowledge is sustained by the processes, routines, and structures of an organization (Horvath 2000; Gamble and Blackwell 2001). Together, tacit and embedded knowledge contribute to the professional culture of an organization and play an important part in establishing and sustaining its corporate memory (Françoise et al. 2000). Erosion of such knowledge risks undermining established practices and standards. In the case of museums and conservation, the loss of curatorial and conservation expertise means that eff ective and appropriate interpretation, curation, collection development, preventive care, and conservation interventions cannot be sustained. Th e public’s engagement with evocative and informative textile and dress collections for increased learning, knowledge, and enjoyment will, potentially, be lessened. Th is article argues that these complex issues need to be addressed to sustain embedded expertise and infl uence decision making. It aims to unpack some of the issues involved by exploring pressures within the UK sector and focusing on three aspects